Beware of the paper towel trick with your grinder

[MattTheGR8]

For a while now I've been using the trick J. Kenji Lopez-Alt included in The Food Lab, shoving a paper towel into my KitchenAid grinder to squeeze out the last few bits of meat at the end of a batch. I use the small select-a-size paper towels, and usually one has been sufficient. The last time I made brats the meat didn't seem to be passing through the die very well after the first paper towel, so I put in one or two more. Bad idea - the paper towels caused the auger of the grinder to seize up while the motor continued trying to turn. I shut off the mixer ASAP and it wasn't immediately obvious that very much damage had been done. However, with the next batch of pizza dough I tried to make the mixer started refusing to turn if it met any significant resistance.

The photo below shows what's left of my mixer's worm follower gear. Thanks to instructions on a great You-Tube video and some new gears I'm back in business, but hopefully my experience can serve as a warning for others.

[kmhfive]

Thanks for the heads up!

[DWCowles]

Guess I won’t be doing the paper towel trick

[flht01]

Deleted

[texastweeter]

I use bread

[DWCowles]

I like that ideal

[Omega-Man]

I haven't tried it but what I have hear is bread is the way to go

[EdF]

So do I

[RonB]

So how did the paper infused brats taste??

[FireMan]

Maybe like chicken? 👀

[Corvus]

One slice of bread does the trick for me.

[BigJoe]

You always use bread

[Spinaker]

Ouch! :/

[HorseDoctor]

Paper towel??? Seriously??? Bread!!!

[Mr. Bones]

Reckon bread has always worked jus' fine, here...
With all due respect, Kenji